The NHL’s Board of Governors met on Tuesday in New York, giving conditional approval to a series of rule and format changes, namely the verification line and the potential for division re-alignment following the 2011-12 season.
To recap–the conditional approval is for the use of the verification line; a three-and-a-quarter behind the goal line which will help determine when or if a puck crosses the line when there’s a massive scrum at the net. The board also received conditional approval to use thin mesh along the top of the net, and a plastic skirt along the bottom. Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell will determine when and if these changes are introduced this season. Hockey Operations, however, has issues with the thin meshing, as they won’t be able to get it made immediately–it will take roughly 1-2 months in order to get it done league-wide.
The clear skirt and the verification line, however, could be in place for the start of the season. The ideas to make changes around the goal net were tested during the NHL’s research and development camp last month. The verification lines, as well as the shallower nets with the thin mesh and plastic skirt, were also tested in Monday’s exhibition game in Toronto between the Leafs and Senators.
Other changes discussed on Tuesday were the shallow base nets, which are four inches shallower than the current size. Neither the board nor the NHLPA plan to put this in effect for the upcoming season.
One of the summer’s hottest topics has been the relocation of the Atlanta Thrashers to the Winnipeg Jets. Hockey’s newest team is currently in the Southeast division, has caused a stir around the league, as a number of Western Conference teams are asking to be moved to the Eastern Conference in order to re-kindle rivalries, a more logical travel schedule, TV scheduling, etc. This has caused many to speculate on potential realignment scenarios. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told SportsBusiness Journal that the group discussed more than 10 plans for shifting the current conferences.
“Obviously we have to make arrangements to move Winnipeg west. There are a number of other clubs that would like to see adjustments as to where they are aligned. Every club that felt that way had a chance to explain to the board why,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said.
While nothing has been decided upon, it’s believed progress was made. The expectation now is that realignment will be decided on at December’s meetings.
At Tuesday’s meeting, a number of different scenarios were laid out for the governors, such as keeping the current six-division format, or moving into a four-conference format, featuring two conferences of eight teams and two conferences of seven teams. A complete change of the current conference and divisional standings, however, would force the league’s hand at also modifying the current playoff format.
“There are no shortage of issues and possibilities. There are a number of clubs that would like to see an adjustment as far as where they’re aligned, and every club that felt that way had an opportunity to explain to the board why. We went around the room to get a sense of what people were thinking,” Bettman said.
As it stands, Winnipeg will play the 2011-12 season in the Eastern Conference’s Southeast Division. The 2012-13 season, however, is expected to see Winnipeg move over to the West and join the Central Division (with the Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars and possibly the Columbus Blue Jackets–Detroit has been moved to the East). Doing so, however, would mean that the East has 14 teams and the West would have 16–one team, likely from the Central, would move to the East to make it an even-15 again.
Moving Detroit to the East and keeping Columbus in the West would be leaving them out to dry. That’s why the Jackets are pushing the 16/14 layout. They are in the Eastern time zone, and by playing the West, they’re forced to travel further in different time zones (San Jose, Vancouver, Los Angeles, etc.), which also forces their games to a late start on TV. By moving them to the East, they’ll be playing more ‘hcokey-crazy’ teams like Toronto, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Washington, etc. which will draw them both fans and ratings.
Now, here’s where things get messy.
Several Western teams–namely the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Blue Jackets and Predators–have been asking to move to the East. Unfortunately, there’s not enough room to accomodate everyone, and the NHL appears weary of accommodating one team and not another. If only one team was permitted to move, Detroit moving to the East makes the most sense when taking into account travel distances and rivalries, especially with the Original 6. There is, however, one way to accomodate everyone–by completely revamping the current system and undergoing a massive, league-wide realignment.
The aforementioned four conference scenario is similar to the four division scenario proposed by Bettman at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Essentially, it would play out like this: the league would have four divisions–Pacific, Midwest, East and South (or, for those of us that are true hockey fans, the Patrick, Adams, Norris and Smythe divisions from the glory days! I also vote for the two conferences to be renamed back to the Princes of Wales and Clarence Campbell). Two divisions would have eight teams, and two would have seven teams. Teams would play a balanced schedule in the regular season, with the top four teams in each division advancing to the playoffs. The first round of the playoffs would be divisional play, and the teams advancing would be re-seeded for conference play in the second round–in layman’s terms, it’s the two furthest teams in each division advance to an eight-team tournament for the Stanley Cup.??
An unnamed NHL executive responded to the Ottawa Sun report and confirmed the two-eights and two-sevens, but was unsure whether there would even be an Eastern and Western Conference, suggesting that the divisions would be based on time zones and geographical location. The time zone problem has been a major problem for some teams for a number of years, and has also caused problems for fans trying to watch teams playing a Pacific time zone game from an Eastern or Central time zone location.
Forcing divisional play in the first round of the playoff would really help to rebuild some passed over rivalries, as well as adding fuel to the fire of existing ones. Take the Eastern Conference Northeast–Canadiens vs. Leafs in the first round? Or in the Central, Detroit vs. Chicago? How about in the Northwest, the Battle of Alberta, Edmonton vs. Calgary? I’m already sold on watching every single game of every single series.
One of the formats discussed on Tuesday was an all-Canadian division, which would likely send ratings (as well as the country of Canada) into a hockey frenzy if divisional play featured two all-Canadian first round matchups. That’s right–the Leafs, Canadiens, Sens, Canucks, Flames & Oilers all in the same division.
Either way, I love it. The first round of the playoffs is supposed to be tough, gritty, aggressive and intense. That’s how rivalries are made. Take a look around the league and see how many rivalries were built from years of playoff battle–Montreal/Toronto, Detroit/Colorado, Toronto/Ottawa, Capitals/Penguins, Red Wings/Blackhawks. There’s so many more. The league’s current schedule has shied away rivalries, and older rivalries such as Toronto/Detroit are nearly dead because the two teams don’t face each other nearly often enough.
Whatever the NHL decides to do, they need to be very careful not to destroy the greatest sports playoff in the world. For me, I’m fine with the divisions as they are–I’m a traditionalist, and I enjoy seeing teams facing rivals. For some, that can be done with a simple tweak of the schedule, but for others, the problem is more than skin-deep. It may require some tweaking of the game we all love in order to make it even better.
Aside from trying to make those Central division teams (and their fans) happy, the primary goal is making the league as competitive and fair for everyone as humanly possible–but if it comes at the expensive of softening the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL will need to sit tight and tell a few teams to chill in order to preserve the coolest game on Earth.